August 15, 2011

Wedlocked by Bonnie Trachtenberg

Rebecca Ross, at thirty-six, is finally getting married. Her Jewish mother is thrilled that her spinster, aspiring actress daughter is finally tying the knot and spends over $40,000 on the wedding.

On the day Rebecca is to walk down the aisle, she realizes that it may be a mistake but marries Craig anyhow. During her wedding reception, she has one disaster after another occur, further reinforcing her previous thoughts that this marriage might have been the wrong idea.

After her wedding cake is ruined, she confesses in her best friend that she has made a huge mistake. Unbeknownst to the two, Michael, Rebecca's sister, Ruthie's new boyfriend overhears the conversation and promises not to tell anyone.

On Craig and Rebecca's honeymoon in Italy is when the charade begins to fall apart. Craig has been a menace and has been arrested. Rebecca finds out the man isn't who she thought he was as his multitude of secrets begin to unfold and before the honeymoon is over, Rebecca is asking for a divorce.

Craig does not want a divorce and vows to Rebecca that she will be stuck with him forever. As Rebecca tries to deal with the law in Italy, Michael, who is a lawyer, comes to help her spring Craig from jail. Along the way Rebecca must come to terms with herself as a person and put her life back on track and with Craig, like an Albatross around her neck, she is unsure how to walk away from the madness that has become her life.

This was a fairly well written debut novel by author, Bonnie Trachtenberg. The characters were well portrayed, the settings described nicely and the plot, while a little cliched, was believable in its approach.

I liked Rebecca, even with her whiny, control-freak, pampered princess syndrome. I liked her sassy attitude and how she viewed the aspects in her life. I thought the friendship between her and Michael was predictable but not the outcome; I truly didn't expect that.

Craig was great as a deplorable cad and his secrets were astonishing and you really felt for Rebecca's situation. I'm just not sure how she didn't see all these character flaws in this man before she married him. I mean, he had to have shown his true colours at some point in their relationship, for it to all come out within a week was a little overboard. Unless Rebecca was wearing very thick rose-coloured glasses, I'd have to say that she did deserve some of the things that happened to her. I feel Rebecca's lesson should have been that the world does not center around her, even though she feels like it should.

All in all though, if you enjoy romance novels, then you will certainly enjoy Wedlocked! The build up to the final outcome, while it drags in places, was decent and the end results of the characters plight is resolved in a amicable fashion.

Bonnie Trachtenberg's Website

SYNOPSIS:
On what should be the happiest day of her life, Rebecca Ross is panic stricken. Rebecca has just wed Craig Jacobs, but she realizes she put more thought into choosing her florist than she did in choosing the man she's just pledged to love for the rest of her life.

Before Craig, Rebecca, a talented Long Island girl, dreamed of following in her grandmother's footsteps with an acting career. Unfortunately, she was cut down to size by years of disappointment, and by her first love-a Hollywood director. She returned to Long Island a lost and broken woman, and ended up in the last place she ever wanted: her old bedroom at her parents' house.

But Rebecca's mother, an overzealous convert to Judaism, has a long held dream too: marry off her three daughters to Jewish men. So no one is more thrilled than her when Rebecca meets and marries bon vivant Craig Jacobs, the man who has won over the whole family. Too bad they're all about to discover that underneath his charismatic shell, this Prince Charming is anything but!

** Disclosure: I did not accept any compensation from the sponsors other than review copies, my views are my own, reviewed by me..as I see it~!! **